Long Time No See
by He-will-knock-4-times
Summary: A strange new witness enters the program with a small surprise. She knows Marshall! Will Mary be forgotten when an old friend steals Marshall's attention?
1. Chapter 1: Long Time No See

I was sitting on the train with a Marshal whose name I'd forgotten before he even finished saying it. I could not believe I'd gotten myself into this mess. At least I already knew the city. I sighed as the train came to a stop. I followed the Marshal off the train as another one stepped behind me. We walked over to another set of Marshals.

"Hello I'm Marshall Masters," Said a tall dark haired man. "And this is my partner Mary Shepard. Follow us." He finished pointing to the blonde standing next to him.

We walked towards a black SUV and I giggled, I hadn't even attempted a laugh since I first got involved in all this. The man looked at me with a raised eyebrow, the women just got in on the driver's side. "SO cliché" I replied lightly, as I hopped in the back. I leaned back and watched the city zoom past the window. After awhile I just sighed, shook my head, and studied the two Marshals in the car. I couldn't remember the lady's name, and that just made her seem even more intimidating. The guy seemed familiar. His eyes were a beautiful blue; I'd only seen eyes like those on two people, and only one that had brown hair like his. I couldn't help but hope. I'd met that person in Albuquerque when I was little… he even had the same first name as this man. I had one way to test my theory. "Wanna hear a riddle?" I asked silently.

The lady laughed and replied. "There hasn't been a riddle he couldn't solve." She whispered just loud enough so we could hear "Smartass."

"Wanna bet?" I questioned.

"Sure" she said.

"If I leave him speechless I win. If not you win. Loser has to kiss him." I said grinning.

"Get the mouthwash ready! You're on!!" She said.

"The pope has it but doesn't use it. Your father has it but your mother uses it. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a big one. Michael J. Fox's is quite small. What is it?" I asked, smirking slightly.

"Oh that's just dirty." She replied.

"Marshall? Your answer?" I asked ignoring her.

After several minutes of thought he answered. "A last name."

"Ok fine. How is footstool a palindrome?" I said refusing to give up.

We stopped, got out, and walked into a building. We were halfway through the rules when he finally answered. "Morse code."

I stared at him. He was smarter than I could have hoped. He might actually be the one. _THE_ one. "To test if a person should be institutionalized a bathtub is filled with water. The person is offered a teaspoon, a teacup, or a bucket, and asked to empty the tub. How does a normal person empty the tub?"

The lady was staring at us as well as the other two people in the room. He thought silently and then with a mischievous gleam in his eyes he said. "A normal person would pull the plug."

My jaw dropped. I tried once more to stump him. "What is greater than God, more evil than the devil. The poor have it, the rich don't need it. And if you eat it, you'll die?"

"Nothing." He replied. "Now can we get back to this. It's important."

I smirked and stood, leaning forward and placing my hands on the table. I stared into his eyes. I was now absolutely positive beyond a doubt that my next riddle would leave him speechless. "Two men are at a table. One poor. One rich. The poor man says 'I know almost every song. I bet you all the money in your wallet I can sing a genuine song with any name, of your choosing, in it.' The rich man replies 'If you can sing a song with the name Marshall Mann in it I will admit I lied to you and give you all the money in my wallet.' The rich man leaves poor. The poor man leaves rich. How?" I said glaring at him. Tears started to streak down my face.

He stared at me. Mary just gaped, stunned. I turned around, walked over, and stared out the window. "Its changed so much. Of all the places they could've stuck me in they had to choose here. Although I should be glad, no one here remembers me."

Mary recovered first. "You've been here before?"

"When I was seven I moved here." I laughed lightly. "If you didn't know that it means that you are either incompetent fools, or I'm safer than I thought. Don't worry about it. No one knows. I've never had any friends. I kept to myself. My dad was in the military. We moved all the time. Its hard to find a city I haven't lived in."

He finally spoke "Mare?"

"What?" Mary asked.

I froze. Had he truly forgotten? I wrapped my arms around my stomach. I held back my tears. Even if it had been him what had I expected? A hug and a welcome back gift basket?

"Meredith?" He said from right behind me. I hadn't even heard him move.

I turned around and he pulled me into a hug so fierce I could barely breathe. My tears ran steadily now, staining his jacket.

"Marsh mellow you jackass! How the hell did you manage to keep a thirty year old promise?"I said trying to sound mad and failed miserably. We both laughed. I hugged him tight and then let go turning to Mary. "I believe you lost." I said grinning widely.

"Oh hell no!" Mary yelled


	2. Chapter 2: The Bet

"Oh hell no!" Mary yelled.

"Oh yes." I laughed. The other two people in the room were staring at us. Wondering what we were talking about. I remembered something. "The MM laws. If you refuse to pay up on a bet… " I whispered. I turned to Eleanor. "Pick me or Marshall."

"Oh Mare. Are you seriously going pretend those are real?"Marshall whined.

"I believe you're the one who made up this rule."

"Marshall" Eleanor said abruptly.

I grinned. "Well Marshall I believe it's your choice now."

"We were seven when we made those rules. I am NOT going to pants her. I like living thank you very much."

"WHAT!" Mary yelled.

"When we were little he was obsessed with making rules. One was that if you refused to pay up on a bet a neutral party picked someone to pants you." I explained. I sighed. "Never mind. I didn't really play fair." I sat back down at the table. Mary stared at me. After several moments I spoke. "Marshall you said this was important."

"It is important, but you never back down from a bet. Ever."

"Well I am now."

He nodded, but wouldn't stop looking at me as we finished the rules. After that they took me to get something to eat, and help me settle in.

The house was a small one-story with a one stall garage. It was a light blue with a white door and shutters. Marshall had gone to check the yard leaving Mary and I in the car alone. I smiled and whispered to Mary. "Has he ever broken a promise?"

She turned around in her seat to look at me and I couldn't tell if she was worried that I was going to tell her he would or if she was just stunned by the question. She shook her head and smiled slightly.

"When I told him I was moving away he promised we'd see each other again. Well the jerk managed to keep a 30 year old promise without even trying." I sighed.

We both laughed.

"Has he always babbled about useless trivia?"

My jaw dropped. "HE STILL DOES THAT???" I asked incrediously.

She nodded.

"Does he still have that cowboy gear?" I asked.

She stared at me. "Cowboy gear?"

"Yeah… boots with the spurs, horse on a stick, toy gun, cowboy hat. The toy badge. He would flash that badge trying to order me around." I said remembering the little boy who had dreamed of becoming a marshal.

We were staring at each other when Marshall opened the door. We burst out laughing. He stared at us and we only laughed harder.

"Come on." He said trying to ignore our laughter.

Mary and I stumbled out of the car, breathless with laughter. There was a couch sitting in the room. Mary and I plopped down exhausted from our laughter.

Marshall stared at us, totally and completely lost. "Mare?" He asked.

"Yeah" Mary and I said in unison. We burst out in laughter again.

Marshall just sighed and smiled.

After about an hour, as Mary and Marshall were leaving, I remembered something.

"Marsh mellow?" I asked as he was heading out the door. Mary was already half way to the car.

He turned around.

"The reason I backed down from the bet was because I saw the look on your face when you realized you'd have to kiss her. I realize how special it would be to you. I didn't want to force that on you." I said ending in a whisper.

He smiled shyly. "That obvious?"

"Maybe. I know you better than most people, so it's possible. Either way, don't wait too long." I said and softly closed the door in his face.


	3. Chapter 3: The Mann of My Dreams

**A/N:** sorry about not writing for a while. This chapter has been sitting on my computer for a while, yet i felt it unfinished. I wanted to write so much more, but my inspiration left as quickly as it had come. I ask for any ideas for what should happen next. I'll post as soon as I can. Reviews inspire me and are greatly appreciated. So review and I shall continue =).

* * *

I was beyond exhausted, but with the things I'd been through in the past few weeks I wasn't surprised when I woke up for the third time at midnight. I must have had a bad dream because my legs were twisted and tangled in the sheets. I straightened them out and turned over falling asleep as soon as my head hit the rather lumpy, uncomfortable pillow.

"MARSHALL!" I screamed, whipping into a sitting position. I was on the floor uselessly and impossibly tangled in my sheets. I'd had a nightmare about a time when we were seven. We were sitting on my trampoline, exhausted from spending half an hour jumping, he leaned in to kiss me, and I shoved him away, accidentially pushing him off the trampoline. I jumped off and knelt next to him. He was pretending to be unconscious, then when I tried to wake him he'd reached up and pulled my face down, smashing our lips together. I was proud to say that after I'd slapped him his left cheek was red for the rest of the day. In my dream James grabbed him and disappeared into the dark. That coupled with the stress of my accident in Maine caused me to spend the next couple minutes crying. I pulled myself from my sheets and dressed. Tears still streaking down my face I reached for my phone that usually sat on the table next to my bed. I realized that I'd gotten rid of it days ago when I left. Who was I planning on calling? No one from my past, not that any of them wanted to hear from me unless it was to tell them where I was. Marshall? I sighed. He would be the best one to call, if I'd had a number to reach him at. I need someone. I had to talk about what happened or I was gonna burst, or worse I was gonna implode. I knew it was a bad idea, but never-the-less I put on a pair of giant sunglasses and walked all the way to the building where Marshall worked. I took care to double back, go through crowds, what little crowds there were at 6 in the morning to make sure no one was following me. I sat next to the door to the building. After a little while the women that had been in the room yesterday came towards the building. She noticed me and knelt in front of me.

"Are you ok, sweety?" She asked, obviously remembering me. Although I can't say I was surprised she did.

I opened my mouth to speak but all I could choke out around the tears was "Marshall".

She put her arm around me and led me to the office. She sat me down in Marshall's chair and went to make me a cup of coffee. By the time she set it in front of me I was already asleep.

My eyes shot open as I gasped softly. I blinked looking around. I realized were I was and immediately wanted to go back to my new house. Marshall spotted me from his spot on the chair next to Mary. He came over to me. I bit my bottom lip as it started trembling. He held his hand out for me, I took it, and he led me out onto a balcony.


End file.
